Calpain-induced proteolysis after transient global cerebral ischemia and ischemic tolerance in a rat model.

The activation of the [Ca(2+)]-dependent cysteine protease calpain plays an important role in ischemic injury. Here, the levels of two calpain-specific substrates, p35 protein and eukaryotic initiation factor 4G (eIF4G), as well as its physiological regulator calpastatin, were investigated in a rat model of transient global cerebral ischemia with or without ischemic tolerance (IT). Extracts of the cerebral cortex, whole hippocampus and hippocampal subregions after 30 min of ischemia and different reperfusion times (30 min and 4 h) were used. In rats without IT, the p35 levels slightly decreased after ischemia or reperfusion, whereas the levels of p25 (the truncated form of p35) were much higher than those in sham control rats after ischemia and remained elevated during reperfusion. The eIF4G levels deeply diminished after reperfusion and the decrease was significantly greater in CA1 and the rest of the hippocampus than in the cortex. By contrast, the calpastatin levels did not significantly decrease during ischemia or early reperfusion, but were upregulated after 4 h of reperfusion in the cortex. Although IT did not promote significant changes in p35 and p25 levels, it induced a slight increase in calpastatin and eIF4G levels in the hippocampal subregions after 4 h of reperfusion.

Evaluación de la calidad de vida en niños y adolescentes con diabetes tipo 1 / Evaluation of quality of life in children and adolescents with tpe I diabetes

Este trabajo destaca la importancia de evaluar la calidad de vida como variable indispensable para conocer el estado de salud general de los pacientes pediátricos con diabetes. Objetivos: Describir y valorar los instrumentos creados para evaluar la calidad de vida en población pediátrica con diabetes tipo 1, destacando aquéllos que son más adecuados para tal fin. Método: Se analizan los estudios en los que se ha medido la calidad de vida en este tipo de pacientes y se describen los instrumentos más adecuados para valorar su calidad de vida. Resultados: De un total de 24 estudios en los que se habían utilizado hasta ocho instrumentos diferentes, sólo dos han sido creados o adaptados específicamente para niños con diabetes: el Diabetes Quality of Life for Youths (DQOLY) y el Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Conclusiones: La calidad de vida se ha relacionado en la mayoría de los estudios con variables psicológicas y biológicas de los pacientes, como el estrés, la ansiedad o el control metabólico, mostrando la necesidad de ser incluida como un elemento fundamental a tener en cuenta en los diseños de programas terapéuticos integrales. El presente estudio destaca dos instrumentos como los más adecuados para medir esta variable en niños y adolescentes con DM1

This paper emphasizes the importance of evaluating quality of life as an indispensable variable to know the state of health of pediatric patients with diabetes. Objectives: To describe and assess the instruments for evaluating quality of life in pediatric patients with type-1 diabetes, emphasizing those that are the most appropriate. Methods: An analysis of the studies in which quality of life in children and adolescents with type-1 diabetes has been performed and a description of the most adequate instruments for evaluating their quality of life has been provided. Results: A total of 24 studies, in which up to eight different questionnaires had been used, were reviewed and it was found that only two of them had been created or specifically adapted for children with Diabetes: the Quality Diabetes of for Life Youths (DQOLY) and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Conclusions: In most of the studies, quality of life was related to patient psychological and biological variables, such as stress, anxiety or metabolic control, showing the need of taking the quality of life as a fundamental element in the design of integral therapeutic programs. The present paper chooses two instruments that are considered the most suitable for evaluating this variable in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes

Sclerotic fibroma.

Sclerotic fibroma is an uncommon fibrotic neoplasm that occurs both sporadically as well as in patients affected by Cowden's disease. We present an additional case of solitary sclerotic fibroma not associated with Cowden's disease. Although most of the lesion was sclerotic, there was a cellular area with some multinuclear cells. We conclude that sclerotic fibroma is a mesenchymal neoplasm whose clinical and histopathologic features are not only different but opposite to those of dermatofibroma.

Superficial granulomatous pyoderma.

Superficial granulomatous pyoderma (SGP) is a form of pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) characterized by superficial ulceration and chronic course. To date it has been described as a condition with specific histopathological findings. We report a new case with clinical characteristics of SGP and describe why we believe that the histological changes previously described are not typical of this entity.

Changes in the phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha, initiation factor 2B activity and translational rates in primary neuronal cultures under different physiological growing conditions.

Phosphorylation of the alpha-subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF-2) is one of the best known mechanisms regulating protein synthesis in a wide range of eukaryotic cells, from yeast to human. To determine whether this mechanism operates in primary neuronal cells, we have cultured primary neuronal cells for 7 days under two optimal growing conditions, complete medium (containing 15% serum) and serum-free medium, and determined the protein synthesis rate, eukaryotic initiation 2 and 2B (eIF-2B) activities, as well as the level of phosphorylation of eIF-2. Cells cultured in serum-free medium exhibited a lower rate of protein synthesis (75%), concomitant to a decreased eIF-2 activity (71%), and slightly higher eIF-2(alpha P) levels (from 10 to 16% of total eIF-2) with respect to cells cultured in complete media. eIF-2B activity, as measured at saturating eIF-2. GDP concentrations (assay independent on the presence of eIF-2(alpha P)) was similar under the two culture conditions. When neurons cultured in serum-free medium are exposed to complete medium for only 24 h, there is a clear decrease in the phosphorylation of eIF-2 alpha (16-3%). This decrease correlates in time with an increase in the protein synthesis rate (154%), as well as eIF-2 activity (236%). The increased levels of eIF-2(alpha P), a competitive inhibitor of eIF-2B in the guanine-exchange reaction, are responsible for the decreased eIF-2B activity found in the neurons cultured in serum-free medium. Additionally, eIF-2(alpha P) is accountable for the lower effect of exogenous eIF-2B in ternary complex formation from preformed eIF-2. GDP in the serum-free media. These changes in phosphorylation of eIF-2 alpha in normal mammalian cells in response to changes in the extracellular medium are reported here for the first time.